


Gratitude

by orphan_account



Category: South Park
Genre: Flirting, Love at First Sight, M/M, band au, idk is seemed really cute and really gay and i had to jump on it, there really isnt much to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 09:45:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7679593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tweek's high school band is given the opportunity of a lifetime and Craig is there to see it happen.</p><p>(This fic was inspired by <a href="http://pachastuff.tumblr.com/post/146263404513/what-am-i-doing-with-my-life">these</a> <a href="http://pachastuff.tumblr.com/post/146264318583/kill-me">two</a> awesome pieces of art by the wonderful pacha-yep.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gratitude

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by [these](http://pachastuff.tumblr.com/post/146263404513/what-am-i-doing-with-my-life) [two](http://pachastuff.tumblr.com/post/146264318583/kill-me) awesome pieces of art by the wonderful pacha-yep.

It was noon, just after that part of the park became closed to the public, when Tweek and the gang all arrived at the venue, though, Jimmy had been there getting things in order since 7 AM. The concert wasn’t supposed to begin for another six and a half hours, but they were there early to participate in set up and to practice, to make sure everything would run smoothly. It was odd to Tweek to be there so far before the event would start; in fact, it made him very nervous. There was more time for something to go wrong. At their normal gigs, they would show up an hour or two before they were supposed to go on to unload, set up, and get comfortable around the stage. However, this wasn’t one of their normal gigs.

See, about two months ago, Jimmy had received an email with the vague subject “Invitation” that was the reason they were at the venue at all. It read:

_To whom it may concern,_

_My name is Jennifer Warren and I represent the band Shot in the Dark, whom I assume you have heard of. We have noticed your band’s rising popularity and my clients wanted to congratulate you. As you probably know, they, too, started off as a high school band from your hometown of Middle Park and they have a “soft spot” for bands that are following the same path. As such, they wanted to invite you be a surprise opening act for the last show of their Summer Tour. It is being held on July 27th at South Park Amphitheater.  Please reply to this email or call me with the information listed below for further details, payment information, or if you have any questions._

_Jennifer Warren_

Jimmy had been the agent for these few since Token had the idea of starting a band in their freshman year, and through all of the years, even with their recent increase in popularity, they’d never had an opportunity as sweet as this one. He called a meeting with the boys immediately and they began comprising a list of questions for Ms. Warren. Something that seems too good to be true usually is, he warned them. But this turned out to be the exception. So, now they were loading in equipment and merch through the back of the amphitheater six hours before the concert was supposed to begin.

“Can you believe it?” Bradley gushed as they began pulling boxes out of the van.  “I mean, I know we’ve known about it for a few months now, but gosh, it’s happening today. And we are actually here! Which means it hasn’t been a dream. This is real!”

“I know! I’m so nervous. Oh jesus! What if we screw up?! What if we ruin our chances at ever having a good relationship with this band! This is too much pressure!”  Tweek was so jittery and fidgety that he could barely carry the box Bradley had given him. It had _SHIRTS_ scrawled across the side.

“Calm down, dude.” Token said as he took the box from Tweek. “We’ve only screwed up a show once and you know that was a freak accident. And you can handle yourself on stage and around fans, so stop worrying.”He paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating whether or not he wanted to say anything else. “How much sleep did you get last night?” He finally asked. Tweek was silent, choosing to move towards the front of the van to get his travel coffee mug instead of answering. Everyone stopped moving and stared at him.

“Tweek?” Prodded Token even though he knew the answer.

“I _may_ not have slept at all.” Tweek took a sip of his coffee and avoided eye contact.

“Tweek!” The three others chastised him. This wasn’t unusual for Tweek, but it still made them unhappy. He knew it did. They were alway worried that he would fall asleep on stage or something, but he didn’t understand it. He’d never done that, he’d always been energetic and lively on stage, what did it matter how much sleep he got?

“Are you gonna be okay, dude?” Kevin asked, putting another box down on the ground; this one’s side read _CDs_. Tweek, once again avoiding an actual answer, just took another sip from his mug and shrugged. That was the only answer they were going to get out of him since he didn’t 100% know himself. Not even 5 minutes later, Jimmy walked out of the backdoor with a short, stout woman in a black pantsuit.

“G-gentlemen, this is Ms. Jennifer Warren. She is here to show you guys a-ar-around.” He motioned to the woman with his crutch and she walked over to shake hands with everyone. Tweek didn’t shake her hand when she walked up to him, though. He knew it was impolite and made him seem rude, but he didn’t want her to feel his hands shaking. Also, they were pretty sweaty and that would probably just gross her out.

“It’s nice to finally meet you all.” She spoke in a very pleasant and formal way with an inflection that reminded Tweek of a telemarketer or a customer service representative. ‘No accent’, he once heard it called. “I’m happy that you could join us today. I see that you’ve already gotten started unloading your equipment, but you don’t have to worry about that. The staff here can finish up with Jimmy’s direction. Meanwhile, I’d like to show you to your green room where we have some lunch available for you.”

“Great! I’m starved.” Token said, rubbing his stomach. Kevin and Bradley expressed their agreement through nods. Tweek felt too nervous to eat, but went along with them anyway. After they had collected their personal bags and Tweek and Token’s acoustic instruments, Ms. Warren began talking about the venue and the schedule and the band and what to expect and several other things as she led them through the door she had come outside from and down a very industrial hallway. The walls were plain white with no scuffs and the ceiling was unfinished. There were also several unlabeled doors which made Tweek’s anxiety worse. What were those doors for? Who was behind them? Were people watching them? The questions flooded his mind. He drank a little more coffee every time he thought of a new one. He was going to run out soon, but it was okay because he always brought extra grounds to their shows. And everywhere else, too. He hoped they had a brewer, otherwise, he would have to resort to drastic measures.

Eventually, they got to a hallway that felt a little more comfortable. The doors were labeled and the walls weren’t as flawless; the ceiling still showed the air vents and pipes, though. One room had a piece of paper taped to the door with their band name, _Gratitude_ , on it and a picture of the group in front of their van. When the four saw it, they were overcome with excitement. They had a room designated to them and them alone. It was once again something they’d never experienced at any other gig. Backstage was normally just a hallway or a room with sound equipment.

The inside of the green room looked like it was from a different building. The ceiling was low and actually finished. Posters for bands, comedians, and other kinds of performers coated three of the walls in an even layer, almost like they were all printed on the same paper. The fourth wall, the one that faced them when they walked in the door, looked like it was pulled straight from an old rich woman’s bathroom. A marble counter spanned the length of the wall and a huge mirror ran from the surface of the counter all the way up to the ceiling. Additionally, three stools, spaced evenly apart, were lined up at the counter. On the right side of the room, a black leather sofa and two grey leather chairs were surrounding a round wooden coffee table filled with their favorite snack foods (and also mini sandwiches). On the left, there was a flat screen TV and a continuation of the counter on from the back wall. While the back wall counter was empty, the continuation of it had several miscellaneous items on it, including a mini-fridge and, thank god, a coffee maker.

“We’ve tried to make you as comfortable as possible.” Ms. Warren broke the teens’ stunned silence. “Jimmy worked very hard with the staff this morning to make this room perfect for you. Please, enjoy your lunch, practice, relax, or whatever else you need to do while preparing for the concert. The wifi password is written down for you on a copy of the schedule which can be found on the counter over there. The bathroom is down the hall on the right. Feel free to explore the venue and come talk to Shot in the Dark if you would like. You don’t have stay cooped up in here. And let me know if you have any questions.” Tweek and the others just nodded, still too in awe to speak, and Ms. Warren left them in the room.

Token immediately was attracted to the sofa, stretching himself out on it before reaching over to the table to munch on the food. Kevin and Bradley quickly followed his lead and took the two recliners. Tweek, instead of sitting, walked to the back of the room, put his bag down on the counter in front of the mirrors and pulled out the tin of his father’s coffee to brew a pot so that it would be ready when needed it. He also made sure to touch the mirror to clear his mind of the idea the it might be two-way and someone could be watching them.

“Tweek, you shouldn’t drink much of that stuff. There is no way it’s good for you.” Bradley warned, but Tweek shrugged it off. It made him feel calmer, which is something he needed in a situation like this. After the coffee was on, he settled down on the floor on the side of the table where there were no chairs, watched the others eat, and listened to them chat about the room, the venue, the excitement, etc. The same stuff they’d been talking about all day.

“We should take a look around.” Token said when everyone seemed to be done eating. “I wanna see what this place looks like.” He got up from the sofa and stretched his long arms.

“Maybe we will find some galactic fugitives hiding around.” Kevin’s forced reference caused a groan from everyone in the room. “Even if we don’t, it’ll be good to scope out the place just in case we need to hide from the empire.” That last one had to have been purely for the purpose of making the others  roll their eyes. He and Bradley were both standing to follow Token at that point. Tweek, however, stayed seated.

“I think I’m gonna stay here, guys.” He looked up at them from the floor. “Maybe I’ll look around later.”

“Suit yourself, but don’t blame us when you miss out.” Token said, leading the others out the door.

Now, Tweek had some time to breathe and cool down alone. He pulled his guitar out of it’s case and moved to one of the recliners, popping out the footrest. Plucking at the strings, he tuned the instrument before he began strumming out his favorite song of theirs. It was one that he and Token had written together during their freshman year, before Gratitude was even a thing, about supporting one another through tough times and helping each other with their problems, about the fact that no one was fighting alone. It was sappy as hell, but Tweek loved it. And as he strummed the chords and hummed the melody, Tweek imagined himself on stage. It was his happy place. People often suspected that Tweek would freak out on stage, given his nervous demeanor, but actually, he was always calm. The world melted away and it was the only place he felt he could truly be himself. Imagining himself on stage relaxed him, eventually to the point that he was actually kind of sleepy. Maybe he should have put at least a little more effort into trying to sleep the night before. It wasn’t until Token burst in the room that he realized he had dozed off.

“Tweek!” Token shouted and he bust open the door. Tweek jarred awake, almost knocking his guitar off of his lap.

“Gah! You gave me heart attack! You know I hate when you do that, man!” He pulled at his shirt and hair nervously, but calmed down quickly since it was just Token being a jerk and not a murderer or kidnapper.

“Were you asleep, dude?” Tweek just looked away, embarrassed at the question. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. You gotta come see this.” Token walked over to Tweek, grabbed his arm, and began dragging him out of the room. “Sorry, I interrupted your nap, but this is so incredible I can’t risk you missing out on it.” Tweek didn’t know what could be so important to scare him half to death over, but he followed without objection anyway. He checked his watch to see how long he’d been asleep. It was only about 1:00, so he couldn’t’ve been out for more than thirty minutes. That fact was comforting to Tweek; it meant he didn’t miss much.

Eventually, Token had dragged Tweek all the way out to the middle of the stage and he now saw what was so incredible. From this place you could see the entire amphitheater, including the lawn. Tweek was, for the second time today, at a loss for words. Then, he remembered that in a few hours, the entire place be filled to the brim with people.

“It’s so much bigger from up here. Oh god! There will be so many people!” He began fidgeting, but Token was there to calm him.

“Yeah, but it won’t be any different from our normal gigs. We are gonna fucking kill it, have fun, and hopefully gain a whole bunch of new fans in the process.” He looked over at Tweek and they shared a smile before looking off into the empty and open venue.

“Hey?” Tweek broke the silence after a few minutes. “Where are Bradley and Kevin? Something bad didn’t happen to them did it?!”

“No, they’re fine. They wanted to go meet Shot in the Dark and I said I would drop by after showing you the stage. You wanna go now?”

“In a few minutes...” He wanted to look at the stage a little a longer.

 

 

“Why did we have to come so early?” Clyde whined loudly as they stood in line outside the gates of the venue. “It’s like 90 degrees, we’ve already been here for three fucking hours _and_ we still have, like, two hours before they let us in.” Craig glanced at his watch. He was right. It was only 3:30 and the staff already told them they wouldn’t begin letting people in until 5:00. But even so, there were a lot of people gathered around tailgating and Craig wasn’t about to sacrifice a good spot in pit to a bunch of people who would be too drunk to fully appreciate the concert.

“Look, Clyde, these tickets are mine, and I didn’t have to invite you. So you can wait in line with me to see our favorite band in what’s supposed to be the best concert of their tour or you can hitchhike home and I’ll call someone else to see it with me. It’s up to you.” And that shut Clyde up. He and Craig had been listening to Shot in the Dark since they released their first album while the two were in sixth grade and, over all that time, this was the first chance they’d gotten to see the band live. Craig knew Clyde wouldn’t pass this up.

“Fine… Well, can we at least sit down? My legs are getting tired?” _Leave it to Clyde to find something to complain about_ , Craig thought, but approved of the idea. He would be more comfortable sitting down, too.

As they waited, Craig was reminded of how lucky he was to even be sitting outside of South Park Amphitheater right then. His family wasn’t the richest. Not even close. He didn’t get an allowance, he didn’t get new clothes often, and sometimes he was stuck with very little to no food in the house to stretch over a couple weeks because his parents couldn’t afford to get groceries until after his dad got paid again. His parents tried, though. They saved up money to get him a nice phone and a car. And they put meals on the table everyday, even if those meals came from the McDonald’s dollar menu. He knew there were some kids that didn’t get always get dinner, so he was thankful for that. These tickets, they were a blessing. Apparently, Craig’s parents had gotten his extended family and even some of their friends to pitch in and so that they could get them for him, and even though they weren’t seats, he was still going to be able to see the show, right up close to the stage at that.

Time moved slowly, but Craig and Clyde passed it by making a game out of ridiculing the increasingly drunken tailgaters. Whoever could make the best insult about the most ridiculous person wins. Clyde wasn’t too good at the game, but he seemed to enjoy nonetheless. Eventually, the venue staff came up to the gates and began hyping people up before letting them flood in.

Once through the gates, Craig moved quickly, almost running, to make sure he made it to the pit before everyone else. He was annoyed at Clyde constantly wanting to stop at the vendor to get water or food first or to get in the merch line before everybody else or whatever other reason. He still managed to get into the pit and find a good spot to call his before the rest of the crowd, though. It was close to the stage, but not right up against it. Being fairly tall, he wanted to give a little room for shorter people to stand. But also, Clyde was one of those shorter people, and he wanted his friend to be able to see and still stand with him.

“I _am not_ leaving this spot from now until the end of the show.” Craig stood with his legs spread far apart to claim this space as his. He knew he looked stupid, but he didn’t care.

“Oookaay. We’ll see about that in an hour. I’ve gotta go to the bathroom and want to get a shirt before the lines get out of control. So I’ll leave you, uh, ‘standing’ here.” And he did after making Craig promise to save his spot. As soon as Clyde left, Craig didn’t have much to do. He posted a couple pictures to Snapchat, messed with some time wasting games on his phone and watched as the pit got more and more crowded. He worried that maybe Clyde wouldn’t make it back before the pit got too full of people to safely maneuver back to his friend. About 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the show, Clyde returned. Craig was surprised, to say the least. People were packed in pretty tightly at that point.

“How’d you make it through the crowd?” Craig asked when his friend got into his spot next to him.

“My little secret.” He smiled, proud of himself, then handed a shirt to Craig. “Here, I got you something. It was the least I could do for you giving me a free ticket here.” Craig held up the shirt in front of him, it was a special Shot in the Dark tour shirt that had all the dates and locations on the back, and the one they were at was in a larger font and in bright red.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Craig slipped the shirt on over his other one as he said this. The show was about to start, and he could barely contain his excitement.

 

 

“F-fifteen minutes, guys.” Jimmy said, peeking in the door to warn them before going back to work. Tweek saw him in the mirror as he was fixing his hair and doing his make up. The performance was closer now than ever and their green room was buzzing with nerves and excitement. Token and Kevin were to either side of Tweek, also doing their make-up. Bradley had been ready for an hour and was helping Jimmy prepare for their grand entrance.

Tweek stared at himself in the mirror when he was finally ready. He had a headband holding his messy blond hair up out of his face. There were black stripes of water-proof face paint all over him: a large one went diagonally across his right eye and up to his hairline, another came to a point on his left cheek, several crossed his chest and wrapped around his arms. They were supposed to make him look fierce, like a barbarian almost, and he really did like them. His confidence grew when he saw his stage-self ready to go in the mirror.

“Everyone ready?” Token checked with the others, snapping Tweek from his thoughts. He seemed surprisingly calm.

“A-as I’ll ever be.” Kevin sounded very nervous, contrasting Token. Tweek didn’t answer, he just nodded.

“All right then. Let’s go.” Token, always the leader, was the first to leave the room. Tweek was the last, having to grab and shrug on his green button down shirt. He left it unbuttoned so the audience could see the stripes and so he wouldn’t get too hot. He also shoved the sleeves up to his elbows so they wouldn’t get in the way.

“Don’t worry. You’re going to your happy place.” He whispered to himself as a stagehand gave him his electric guitar. It was a beautiful thing. An Eastwood, dark (almost-black) for two inches around the edges of the body, but transitioning into a gorgeous emerald green with a wooden texture in the center, and clean white scratchboard. Token’s parents had bought it for Tweek along with the rest of the band’s instruments when they first formed. He was lucky a member of the band had rich parents who supported his hobbies, otherwise they wouldn’t have something so nice.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Jimmy was forcing them on stage. It was a very different feeling now. He saw the people as he passed the small gap between backstage and the large black curtain blocking view from the audience. He was shaking again, but he knew it would go away...probably. Tweek stood upper stage right in front of the microphone barely breathing and fidgeting with his guitar strap as he waited in anticipation. He looked over and at all of his bandmates who seemed to be as jittery as him for once. Kevin stood farthest away from, but in line with him, bass in hand, and inspecting the microphone. Token was also in line with him, taking center stage. He seemed to be trying to tune his guitar, even though the stagehands told them they’d done it already. Bradley was behind him sitting at the drums. His eyes were closed as he prepared himself. Token motioned for Tweek and Kevin to walk closer to him and then he moved towards Bradley at the drums.

“Okay guys. This is just like any other show. We’re ready. We’ve practiced this setlist into the ground. We can do this.” Token looked every one of them in the eyes when he said the last bit. Then, he smiled a million dollar smile, put his arms around Kevin and Tweek, and laughed. “We’ve made it, guys.”

 

 

Any minute now, the Fighting Daisies, the opening band, would come on and the crowd Craig was in would burst into action. He was so ready. His stomach was full of excited butterflies and his heart was beating a thousand times per second. Next to him, Clyde was practically jumping up and down. Eagerly, Craig had been watching stagehands and tech people frantically go back and forth through a slim space between the large curtain blocking the stage and the area offstage. It had been a while since he saw the last person exit which made him think that everything was set up. And then a surprise. The lead singer of Shot in the Dark walked out on stage, in front of the curtain, with a microphone. She was so close to Craig, he could see the details of her outfit.

“Good evening, Colorado!” She shouted. “Are you guys ready to rock?!” Screams followed the cliche question. “You know, I just had to come out here before the show and say, it’s great to finally be back home. We love performing around our home. And since tonight is the last night of our tour and it is in such an important place to us, we wanted to give you guys something special. As some of you may know, Shot in the Dark started when I was in high school six years ago and at that time, I never dreamed that we would be standing here today with a venue packed full like this and it took us a long time get here. So, as a little surprise, before Fighting Daisies comes on, we wanted to give this opportunity to another up-and-coming high school band from our hometown. We hope you enjoy this special treat and give it up for Gratitude!” She winked before walking off the stage and everyone cheered. Craig was confused though. Was this high school band even going to be any good? And nobody would know any of their songs so how was the energy going to be? His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of drums.

Slowly, from behind the curtain, the drums played the opening beat to a song. Then, one by one, the other instruments began to join in playing a very simple tune. Craig wasn’t all that impressed by this high school band so far. In fact, if this was any indication, they were fairly mediocre at best.

After after about thirty seconds, he heard a voice shout “1! 2! 3! 4!”, and as soon as the last number left the person’s mouth, the curtain dropped, the lights on the stage went up, and the drummer took off. The simple tune became a complex rhythm that turned into a great song. Craig was stunned when the song first picked up. Everyone else in the audience seemed to be, too, since all he could see were gaping faces around him. He thought he even heard Clyde gasp. But after the initial shock passed, everyone was cheering and dancing. The energy was out of this world.

Craig watched the lead singer throughout the first song and most of the second, occasionally sending looks towards the drummer right behind him. Really he was trying hard to pay attention and move around in the pit rather than think about what was on his mind. It was hard for him to believe these guys were his age and were here opening for such a huge band. He kept his eyes locked on the lead singer so that he could put enough energy into not thinking about how unimpressive he was. That is, until the first guitar solo of their performance. When they threw to the guitar solo, he realized that the singer was not the one playing lead guitar, he was just providing the rhythm; there was another guitarist on stage that Craig didn’t even notice because he was too busy trying not to feel bad about himself. So he gave up on that thinking for a moment and looked over to find out who was providing this sweet solo. And that’s when he saw him.

The boy was gorgeous. His blond hair was messy and stuck up all over the place in the most endearing way. He was tall, but maybe that was just the angle. He had stripes painted all over him that just added to his aura of attractiveness. And then there was the face, this talented guitarist boy looked so determined while staring at his guitar and picking the strings to make the perfect sounds for the mood. When he finished the solo, he looked up and smiled this huge goofy smile that made Craig’s heart stop. He stood still and stared as everyone around him screamed and cheered them on. All thoughts of his own mediocrity were replaced with thoughts about this boy. 

They didn’t play that long of a set list, only about six songs. However, they were great songs and everyone wanted to hear more. Opening bands don’t usually come out for an encore, but they did and played a song acoustically. Every one of them was so thrilled, Craig could see it in their faces, especially the lead guitarist’s which he watched for a majority of the performance. After their impromptu encore, they drummer threw his sticks into the audience and the others followed by tossing their picks. Craig had his sights set on one and he wasn’t going to let anyone else get it. The blond guitarist was searching around for the right place to throw the little plastic triangle, so Craig stared him down. Maybe if he stared him down their mental waves would resonate and he would be forced to be aware of Craig’s presence. It seemed to work and the boy noticed him. They locked eyes; he looked nervous. Craig mouthed the word “please” and nodded enthusiastically. The boy gave a quick nod of agreement before tossing the pick towards him. He caught it in the air thanks to his height and when he did, the boy on stage smiled brightly. Craig melted.

“Dude! Did you just catch that pick?! Lucky!” Clyde exclaim! “He was looking at you for a while. Maybe you got it cause that guitarist has the hots for you.” He nudged Craig with his elbow.

“You think?” _Shit._ Craig blurted it out before his filter could catch it and then clapped his hands over his mouth accidentally stabbing himself with the pick in the process. Clyde burst out laughing and Craig couldn’t tell if it was over the what he said or him accidentally hurting himself. Probably both.

 

 

Tweek could barely bring himself to leave the stage. It was extraordinary to stand out there and hear all of those people screaming and calling out in support of their little high school band. None of the people in that audience came to that concert for them and, when that curtain dropped, he saw the initially unimpressed looks on the faces closest to the front of the pit. But those faces quickly became excited and happy and when he saw the smiles appear on them and heard the cheers… well, there was no greater feeling than that. And that feeling continued even beyond the end of their performance when the audience begged for an encore.

An opening band doing an encore was unprecedented. For those few minutes people were chanting “encore” and “Gratitude”, the band was huddled just offstage wondering what to do. Shot in the Dark pushed them to go back for at least one song, but they’d played all the songs they’d rehearsed. Except for one, the one Tweek had used to calm himself down earlier. It was Kevin who had the idea to play it acoustically. So Tweek and Token ran as fast as they could to get their guitars from the green room and went back out for one last song. And afterwards when Bradley got caught up in the moment and threw his drumsticks, Tweek almost burst out laughing at his embarrassment. But then Token tossed his pick and Kevin moved to do it, too, so Tweek went along.

Eventually, they did have to leave the stage, much to Tweek’s disappointment. As soon as they were far enough out of sight of the audience, Jimmy approached with a large smile on his face. He was probably planning on congratulating them, but before he could get a word out, Bradley had wrapped him and Tweek into a huge hug that Kevin and Token soon joined. They were all elated standing together, instruments and all, feeling like they’d just won olympic gold, until Ms. Warren walked up to them. Then they realized that their embrace was kind of awkward and a little weird.

“That was great show. You did well for your first performance on a large stage. I suggest that you go to back to your green room and rest for a few minutes and then you can watch the rest of the show, if you’d like.” Taking her advice, they all headed to the green room and after haphazardly placing his guitar against the wall, Tweek collapsed on the floor in front of the table. Now that he was off the stage, he was coming down from his high. He just laid there with his face shoved into the carpet for a few moments until Token placed his coffee mug next to his head.

“I think you need this.” Tweek craned his neck to look Token in the eyes.

“You know me so well.” He said, grabbing the cup and moving into a criss-crossed position on the floor. He took the lid off of the travel cup so that he could drink from it a little bit easier. The coffee was cold, probably whatever was left of what Tweek had started about an hour before they went on, but still refreshing. Looking around at his friends, Tweek noticed how drained they were. Token was once again stretched out on the sofa, taking up the entire thing, it looked like Bradley had actually passed out, and Kevin was spacing out while chewing on a leftover sandwich from earlier. Everyone was quiet until Token started rambling.

“Wow... It just happened and I still can’t believe it. Four years ago, it was just Tweek, Jimmy, and I working out of my garage to set this up and now… Just...fuck, dude. And how incredible was it?”

“Pretty fucking incredible…” Tweek responded, the only other one of them not _completely_ dead, by the looks of it. It must’ve been the coffee. “The lights… were really bright.” It was the first thing he thought of that he could actually describe and it was met by agreement across the room. Token and Tweek kept going back forth half chatting about the experience half mumbling some random thought outloud. Eventually, Kevin, having finished gnawing at the old sandwich spoke up.

“Did either of you guys see who caught your pick? I lost mine in the lights and couldn’t follow it…” Kevin looked very disheartened about that fact and while Tweek wanted to offer sympathy, Token didn’t seem to notice.

“Yeah, I saw who caught it. This super hot girl right up close to the stage. Long hair, glasses, big... Yeah…” He trailed off imagining this girl. “She blew me a kiss when she caught it. That’s what I live for, man.”

“What about you, Tweek?” Kevin looked to him expectantly. Tweek thought about that boy he had thrown it to.

“Uh… yeah… It was this guy. He wasn’t too far back, I could see him pretty clearly ‘cause he was tall. I think he was about our age, maybe a little bit older.”

“Oh yeah,” Token exclaimed, “I saw you staring at him! You must’ve really wanted him to get that pick, huh?” He winked and Tweek tensed up.

“Gah! It wasn’t like that! He was staring at me and I caught him! And sure he looked pretty cute... but that’s besides the point! He asked me to throw it to him!” Tweek didn’t realize what had said at first, but looking at the amused faces of the others had him shrinking in shock. “I didn’t mean that!” He shouted, shoving his nose in his coffee mug while Token bust out laughing. Although, he kind of meant it. The boy was cute and he secretly wished that he would somehow see him again, hopefully closer that time.

A few minutes later, Jimmy walked in the door.

“I kn-know I already said it, but you guys really _rocked_ it out there. And what a terrific audience, s-s-so welcoming. I did wanna suggest that you guys maybe during the o-other opening act go to the merch tables and try to meet some potential fans. It’ll help us s-sell stuff and gain a good reputation. What do you think?” Jimmy gave an eager smile.

“I think… that could be fun.” Tweek said, to everyone's surprise. Normally, he wasn’t the first one to speak up in agreement to something that could be even remotely ‘too much pressure’, but Tweek wanted to meet the people who enjoyed their music. And, yeah, he was anxious about it, there were so many variables, so much room for error, he was already getting kind of shaky, but he really wanted to go out there.

“Well, if Tweek’s up for it, then I am, too.” Token stretched his arms before standing up off the couch. They looked to Kevin.

“I think I’ll stay back. Sleeping Beauty is going to need someone to protect him front the galactic terrorists that could be lurking in the area.” Token, Tweek, and Jimmy all just kinda shot him confused looks. They never got why he made poorly placed sci-fi references all the time, but they would just shrug it off as a weird personality trait.

After fixing their makeup and hair, Tweek and Token left the green room. Jimmy told them that there should be a box of pictures at the merch table for people who wanted something signed but didn’t have anything and that the staff there would have sharpies for them. It was all set up earlier that afternoon just in case.

The actual opening band had already begun their set by the time they made it down to the table. When they got there, the staff was more than helpful to get them set up off to the side of the crowded stand. They handed Token and Tweek the sharpies and photos Jimmy had mentioned earlier and one member even helped them stack up the pictures nicely. Then, she made an announcement to the crowd that Tweek and Token from Gratitude were there to talk to fans.

A variety of people, after purchasing their merch, dropped by the two of them. It was quite a bit more than Tweek had anticipated, but it was a lot of fun. He signed CDs, T-shirts, pictures, and even somebody’s phone. People claimed that they would be “the next big thing!” and that they needed to get their autographs now while they could. It was so nice to get people who had never heard of them before talking so highly of their little band. Some people stuck around and asked them questions about how they got started or what inspired their songs or just chatted with them. Tweek felt phenomenal. He was so happy to get to see all of these people so interested in the music that he had played. It just made him feel good.

They stayed at the stand until the crowd died down, just as Shot in the Dark came out on stage. The whole time Tweek had been signing autographs and talking to fans, he looked out for the boy who had caught his guitar pick, hoping he would come get an autograph or at least talk to him. But he hadn’t shown by the time they left.

“Well, Tweek, I had fun. What about you? You looked like you were having a good time.” Token asked as they walked back.

“Yeah, it was cool. I liked talking to people.” He tried to work his thoughts into words. “There were a lot more girls than I thought there would be.”

“Yeah there were! Some of ‘em asked for my number.” He put his hands on the back of his neck and looked up for a second like he was daydreaming.

“You-you didn’t actually give it to any of them, did you?” The amount of judgement Tweek was shooting towards Token was evident in his voice.

“Only a few.” He answered, dismissively. Tweek just gave him a look that conveyed even more judgement. “Hey! You’d be the doing the same thing if a cute boy came along swooning for you and you know it!” Now, Tweek was embarrassed and had to take a break from judging Token to give him a punch on the shoulder. Not too hard, he didn’t want to hurt him, he just wanted to show his frustration. “Don’t worry, Tweek. I’m sure your man will show up when we come back after the show. Maybe even the guy who caught your pick, hm? If he comes along, you can’t pass that up.” This time he made sure his punch hurt in order to hide his excitement over that thought.

 

 

 _What a show?!_ The main event, Shot in the Dark, was more incredible than Craig could’ve imagined. It was one thing hearing a favorite band’s tracks over the radio or on his phone, but it was a whole nother to actually listen to them live and in person. Everything sounded different, but in the best way possible. Still, he belted out the lyrics like he would when he was home alone. And while he was focused on Shot in the Dark and on the concert when they were playing, in between songs, he couldn’t help but think about that guitarist boy. The whole time, the pick was burning a hole in his pocket and he was constantly reminding himself to get merch after the show so he wouldn’t get caught up in everything else and forget. Craig would have gone earlier, but he didn’t want to lose his spot or have to worry about struggling to get back to Clyde. However, the minute the encore was over, Craig was on his way to the table. He needed to get as familiar with this band as he could.

“Craig, slow down.” Clyde was hanging onto Craig’s arm like a kid trying not to lose his parents. “My legs are tired from standing. I can’t move that fast.” He was whining like a kid, too.

“The line is probably long as hell already and the place probably won’t be open much longer.” Luckily for Craig, when they got there, the line was not actually too bad. Clyde even commented that the line was longer earlier. People must’ve been eager to get home. They quickly got to the back of the line and begun the wait. He knew he wanted a T-Shirt and a CD if they were selling them. He would decide what exactly to get when he got up there.

While standing in line, Craig overheard the people in front of him mention that two of the members of Gratitude were up there earlier, during the opening act, to talk to fans. Craig’s heart sank at this, to think that he missed the opportunity to see and talk to the cute guitarist in person. For a few moments, he wallowed in his own disappointment, fidgeting with the pick in his pocket. At least he had that, he thought. Then, Clyde elbowed him in the side.

“Dude! What was that for?!” Craig stared down at Clyde who backed up at his anger.

“Woah, calm down. I just thought you’d be happy to see that.” He pointed through the shrinking crowd to the side of the merch stand. It took Craig a second to understand what he was looking for, but when he saw the blond hair, he stopped breathing. There, far off to the side of the table, was the guitarist boy eagerly signing an autograph for someone and smiling the same smile that he gave Craig when he caught the pick. Inside Craig’s head, sirens were blaring to abort mission, abort mission. Yeah, he was bummed about not getting to meet him, but now he was anxious about the same thing.

“You know, Clyde,” Craig said, trying to sound nonchalant, “I’m pretty tired. I’ll just look the band up and order stuff online.” He glanced over to Clyde to see if his act was working. It wasn’t. At all.

“Craig, you and I have been best friends since 1st grade. _1st grade_. I can see right through you so don’t pull that shit on me. Now, you are gonna buy your stuff here and then go talk to that guy. And that’s final.” Clyde had crossed his arms across his chest and was looking upon Craig like he was his mom. With a sigh, he gave in. Craig couldn’t make Clyde move when his mind was set on something no matter how hard he tried. And it seemed like his mind was set on making him embarrass himself in front of a cute guy. Stubborn bastard.

They moved forward painfully slow. With every step, Craig got more and more nervous. Eventually, they made it up to the table and Craig bought his shirt, there wasn’t a decision to be made since there was only one left in his size, and copy of Gratitude’s CD. While the woman was getting his stuff together, he looked over to where the band members were standing. The lead singer was also there and they were both talking to some girl. The singer was flirting with her while the guitarist stood off to the side. Craig froze, watching them.

“Dude! You’re holding up the line!” Clyde yelled at him. He had taken the bag of Craig’s stuff from the woman and was waiting on Craig to ‘pay the lady’, as he said. It was $30 for everything, not too bad. As soon as he had been given his change, Clyde was struggling to push him towards the members of the band and giving him a sore attempt pep talk in the ten feet they had to move. “All you gotta do is talk to him. He looks nice and not intimidating at all. He’s just another boy. You talk to boys all the time. The only difference is that this one is a little bit more famous, but that doesn’t-”

“Clyde?” Craig cut him off. “Shut up and stop pushing me.” They stopped just a few steps from the boy. His back was to them, listening to the singer brag to yet another girl.

“Okay, okay. You got this.” With a pat that felt more like a slap and a thumbs up, Clyde walked past him. Now, since his friend had left, all Craig had to do was step forward and say something. But instead of speaking, he just kept staring at the boy’s blond hair. It was interesting, the boy was much shorter here than he appeared to be on stage. The top of his head only came up to about his nose. That just made him seem cuter in Craig’s eyes, however. Finally, he worked up the nerve to speak.

“Uh… Hi?” Craig must’ve been louder than he thought because the boy jumped out of his skin and was shaking as he turned around to see who was behind him. “Oh, uh… Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Craig rubbed the back of his neck nervously. The guitarist nodded and then looked Craig in the eyes. Craig got lost in the other boy’s eyes, they were such a beautiful dark green. Neither of them said anything. After a few moments, the lead singer noticed the two of them and moved over to whisper something to the guitarist. The guitarist looked away and whispered something back, then looked back to Craig

“H-hi. Did you enjoy the show?” He said, sounding kind of nervous.

“Yeah!” Craig nearly shouted. “It was really fun. You guys did a great job.” At this, the boy smiled and Craig felt butterflies in his stomach. “I didn’t know you guys were from around here. I’ve lived in South Park my whole life and I’ve never heard of you. So it was surprising to hear you were form here.”

“Well, that’s probably because we aren’t from South Park. We’re actually from Middle Park, ya know, the next town over, that Shot in the Dark is from. But there’s no good venues over there so we had to come here.” While Craig was listening to the boy ramble, he kept thinking about how much he loved his voice. It wasn’t extremely smooth or anything. In fact, it was kind of high pitched and shaky, but still appealing. At least to Craig.  He also kept thinking about how the boy was just overall, much cuter up close and in person. It was unfair how adorable he actually was. From his disheveled hair to his make up to his voice. It was almost too much for Craig.

“Makes sense. South Park’s amphitheater is a lot closer than the ones around Denver.” Craig glanced behind the guitarist and saw Clyde chatting excitedly with the lead signer several feet away. They were both laughing at something one of them had said. Clyde looked over at Craig and since Craig was also looking at him, he gave a thumbs up. The singer turned around, too, and also gave Craig a thumbs up. _What was that for?_ Craig thought. _Does he know something?_ was the next thought, quickly followed by: _I’m going to kill Clyde_.

“So, uh, did you want me to sign something for you? Or did you just want to talk?” The guitarist spoke up. He also added afterwards, “Which is fine! I was just wondering!”

“Oh! Um… How about this?” Craig reached into his pocket and pulled out the pick. “I caught this earlier when you threw it to me.” He reached out toward the boy with the pick in hand.

“It’s a little… small isn’t it?” The boy said, not moving to take it. Craig’s face began to heat up in embarrassment. He was right, it would be too small to get a good signature on it. He felt like an idiot.

“Yeah… I guess it is.” Craig put the pick back in his pocket and then patted them down for something else, but came up empty. “My friend has the stuff I just bought. I don’t think I have anything…”

“Oh… That sucks...” The boy looked kind of disappointed at that. Both of them stood there awkwardly until a hand reached between them holding a piece of paper.

“Hey, Tweek, don’t forget that these are here for people that don’t have anything to get signed.” The lead singer of the band said. He smiled a very knowing smile at the two of them.

“Thanks, Token. I can’t believe I forgot, I’m such an idiot.” The guitarist, whose name seemed to be Tweek, said as he snatched the paper from the singer.

“Don’t say that, most people had their own stuff so it’s easy to forget.” He patted the boy on the shoulder before walking away, back to where Clyde was standing. As he walked away, Craig swore he heard him mutter “Token to the rescue.”

“Want it personalized?” Asked Maybe-Tweek.

“Yeah, definitely.” It wasn’t even a question. Craig wasn’t going to sell this for a billion dollars. Well… actually, maybe for a billion dollars, but not for any less.

“What’s your name?”

“Craig.”

“Okay, one sec.” The boy was very focused while writing on the paper. He even stuck his tounge out in a move that was so cute Craig had to avert his eyes. “Here you go.” He handed the picture to Craig when he was finished.

“Thanks.” Craig’s voice cracked as he said it and he wanted to disappear. The boy looked like he was about to start laughing at him, which made him was to disappear anymore.

“You’re welcome.” He said. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, uh, I think that other guy called you Tweek, right? Is that your name?” Craig wanted to know his name so he could stop calling him ‘the cute guitarist boy’ in his head.

“Yeah, it’s Tweek. Gah, I know it’s weird, I don’t know why my parents want me to suffer with it like this. It’s basically the same as my last name and it’s so dumb, ugh-” Tweek cut himself off. “Ah, but anyway, it doesn’t matter. Thanks for coming out here. I’m glad you enjoyed the show. Since you live around here, you could come see us again sometime.”

“That’d be cool.” Craig tried to sound like he wasn’t already planning on going to every show he could from now on.

“Craig, dude,we gotta go.” Clyde said as he walked up to them. “It’s getting late. Stop flirting and come on.”

“I’m not flirting!” Craig shouted at Clyde, embarrassed yet again.

“Whatever, just hurry up.” He said dismissively. Tweek and Craig looked at each other.

“It was nice to meet you, Craig. Maybe I’ll see you at another show.” Craig’s heart beat faster at the sound of his name in Tweek’s voice.

“Yeah.” He croaked out. “Maybe.” Tweek smiled a very big smile at that, and then, Craig and Clyde left.

“I’m proud of you, dude.” Clyde said as they were leaving the amphitheater. “You manned up and talked to him for a while. And you even got an autograph. What does it say?”

“Oh yeah. I haven’t looked at it yet.” They both stopped walking so that Craig could get a look at the signature before leaving the bright lights of the venue. When Craig did read the note, he almost crushed the paper in shock and felt his face begin to burn like hell. Clyde was pestering him to let him see what it said. When he read it, he gasped before dying of laughter at Craig’s expense for at least the second time that night. Craig ignored him and just kept staring at the messy writing.

 _Craig-_  
_Glad you liked the show :)_  
_You’re pretty cute._  
_Call me sometime._  
_XXX-XXX-XXXX <3  
_ _Tweek Tweak_

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that you enjoyed it because I had a lot of fun writing this! It is the first work I've finished in a while and I'm really happy with it :)  
> Special thanks to [pacha-yep](http://pachastuff.tumblr.com/) for creating the art that inspired this. Check them out, there art is amazing.


End file.
